During the Armoury III renovations, Armoury II has been converted into a photographic studio as part of the final phase of the Wallace Collection’s Arms and Armour Photography Project.

The intensive three-year project ended with the photography of some of the largest and heaviest objects in the entire collection, including the two complete equestrian armours (with horses!). The success of this ambitious campaign of conservation and digital imaging -to clean, evaluate, and photograph every object in the European arms and armour collection- represents an unprecedented achievement, comprising over 13,000 high-quality photographs of nearly 2000 medieval and Renaissance objects. This new arms and armour ‘image bank’ will be made available for use in a number different ways, online and in the form of a complete digital catalogue on DVD-Rom and a new European Armouries guidebook.

Baron von Freyberg and Count Ottheinrich Ride Again!

Over the last year the Arms and Armour Team has taken additional time out to re-display both of the Wallace Collection’s iconic equestrian armours. These two impressive exhibits, the Gothic armour for man and horse c.1480 (A21) and the cavalry garniture of Otto Heinrich, Count Palatine of the Rhine c.1532-6 (A29), have long been in need of improvement. Replacement of the old dummies with modern steel armatures has breathed new life into these world-famous figures, not only returning the armoured riders to their true-life statures (both knights were over six feet tall) but also giving them historically-accurate riding positions, posture, and body language. To allow our visitors to experience the full impact of these spectacular images of chivalry, from December 2nd both equestrian armours will be on display together in European Armoury II.